LOS ANGELES — Inside the library at Esperanza Elementary School near downtown Los Angeles, third grader Bella Castro has lots of reading options.

“I like chapter books like ‘The Wild Robot,’” she said.

She typically reads about 30 minutes a day with her mother, who doesn’t speak much English, but said they both benefit.

“We read a story and she hears me read, and then we mark the words that we don’t know, and then we look them up,” Castro said.

She is considered one of the success stories at Esperanza, where 96% of the students live below the poverty line, and for more than half, English is a second language. It’s one reason why improving literacy rates statewide is one of the primary goals for Yolie Flores with the group “Families in Schools.”  

“The vast majority of children in elementary school through third grade are not reading proficiently, particularly low-income children, Latino children and Black children,” she said.

A big part of that, she said, involves engaging the parents to create a learning environment at home. She said LAUSD is facing a literacy crisis, and she’s calling on local and state leaders to take action. Flores said third grade is a milestone in a student’s journey.

“By the time they get to fourth grade, they are now beginning to learn everything is in text. If we haven’t equipped children to read, they start falling behind in fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade. Many drop out of school,” she said.

Instead of simply sounding out words and matching them to pictures, advocates for the science-based approach focus on word structure and comprehension. It’s an effort that aligns with a bill that would require this evidence-based approach statewide. In his nine years as principal at Esperanza, Brad Rumble said he has made upgrading the library a priority and focuses on connecting with students and their parents.

“We’re teaching them vocabulary, the structure of the language, and we’re explicitly teaching comprehension. What’s happening is the students are becoming fluent readers who comprehend the content that they’re reading,” Rumble said.

He said about 68% of his first graders were at or above the benchmark for the middle of the year, and Flores said LA Unified has started to train all of its elementary school teachers. It expects to finish by the end of the 2024-25 school year.

“If children are not reading at grade level and do not read proficiently as adults, in many cases it is game over,” she said.

With each page turn, Castro’s love of reading grows.

“You get to learn more words. You get to make your spelling more right,” she said. “Like, I didn’t know how to spell ‘risky.’ I see it in a book, and then I just practice it, and then I know how to write ‘risky.’”